Bonny Wood - 4/12/2018

 

Another Suffolk Wildlife Trust reserve near Ipswich is Bonny Wood, near Barking, East of Needham Market. The reserve is half of an ancient forest, one of several in the area, one that can be dated back to ancient times.

Bonny Wood from the outside

 

It is one of the hardest reserves to find, several miles from the nearest road, along a labyrinth of footpaths. It is set in a really beautiful area of Suffolk, not many roads, lots of paths, undulating fields with thick hedgerows, and blocks of ancient forests.

I entered Bonny Wood around midday, the weather was sunny, but there had been a heavy frost the night before. The woodland is predominantly coppice, spindly trees with lots of trunks stemming out from their base. There were also isolated 'standard' trees, ones that were left uncut to grow tall. In this type of  wood, because of centuries of being managed in this way, there are no ancient trees.
In the heart of the forest light couldn't penetrate through the trees so it was cold and gloomy. A MARSH TIT was seen. I disturbed a BROWN HARE on the arable edge of the forest. A small herd of ROE DEER ran across the path, only briefly lightening the quiet cold.
I came out of the forest and took another path along the southern edge, and the more open conditions attracted more birds. A male BULLFINCH was seen amongst a small bird flock, always a delight to see.
The aim of this visit was for a quick reconnaissance, but I plan to have a more thorough visit sometime in April/May time to see the flowers and the Spring birds. There are more woodlands in the area to explore, its just that accessing them is so awkward, being so far from roads and the spider's web of footpaths that crisscross the area.

The spindly trees typical of coppice woodland

 

Back at Barking, where I had parked, a very healthy flock of HOUSE SPARROWS existed, maybe thirty or forty, in what is in effect a hamlet, which is great considering how rare they are becoming in a lot of places.

 

Pill box Barking common

 

I saw this reserve on a map, a green square with a little blue bird symbol on it, and wanted to see what it looked like in reality. This reserve is one of two in the area, mere pin pricks on the map, whilst all around they are lost in a sea of intensive farmland. Places like this are so special, yet thy are so small and so alone in the countryside, and the people who own them can do nothing to extend them, to join two woods to make one giant one, to return the land to how it originally looked.